Rodolfo and his wife Carolina set up home in Voghera, Italy and were blessed with 7 sons which were born from 1881 - 1898 who all had a passion for cars, the engineering, design and we think even the idea of the Trident -  still today's logo for Maserati was created by Mario who went on to become a painter.

The Maserati family endured sorrow at the tragic loss of their very talented young engineer son Carlo.  It was infact Carlo who started the engineering side with his success in designing a single engine for a Velocipede which he raced at speeds of 31mph which set a new world record in 1900.  The motor cycle plant where he was employed had to close their doors in 1901 and Carlo went to work for Fiat he stayed just 2 years here and left taking with him his younger brother Alfieri to work as a mechanic/test driver for Isotto Fraschini.

Carlo had enjoyed great opportunities such as racing for Bianchi and setting up a workshop with younger brother Etorre, which Alfeiri joined shortly after Carlo's death, Carlo's and Alfieri's personalities were quite similar both enjoying racing. Alfieri came 14th in the loaned car from Isotto's in the Grand Prix for voiturettes.  By this time a further brother Binde joined forces with the brothers at Isotto Fraschini.

By 1914 after a successful career with Isotto with heading up their customer service HQ in Bologna it gave Alfieri the confidence he needed to open his own business and this is when we first see the doors open for the Maserati empire, they initially started by tuning cars for Isotto. Whilst at the same time Alfeiri pursued his racing and with wins at the Mugello circuit, Susa Moncenisio and Aosta-Great Saint Bernard, it was all a little short lived when he was disqualified for racing a 3litre engine in a 2litre race.  The ban that was given to Alfeiri gave him the excuse to concentrate on the family business and in 1926 the first Maserati design would soon be the winner of the Targo Florio, the car was the Tipo 26 and sported the first Trident logo. 1927 a few more wins including the constructor?s championship for Maserati but at a cost of a serious accident for Alfeiri.

1929 was a turning point financially for the Maserati business when the V4 made its debut at the Italian Grand Prix, with a 16 cylinder engine and driven by Baconin Borzacchinni the car set the class C speed record running 10km at 246.069 km per hour. With the V4's continued success at the 1930 Grand Prix with financial backing meant that Maserati could expand.

Alfieri went on to develop a further 2 more cars before his death in 1932 the 8C 2500 and the 4CTR.  Brothers Bindo, Ernesto and Ettore continued with the family business and together produced a 3 litre 8 cylinder engine that they continued to race.

1933 sees another keen driver join the Maserati business Tazio Nuvolari who brought further skills of fine tuning the chassis for Maserati and took them to success with Grand Prix's at Belgium, Montenero and Nice. Maserati were shortly joined in the racing fraternity by Auto Union and Mercedes with lesser races being won until Gino Rovere joined the company in 1936 bringing with him Nino Farina, things got better again with the 6m taking them to a competitive field again in the Voiturette class. Though the Maserati business was going well the brothers sold their interest in 1937 when the Orsi family became owners and who moved the business to Modena Italy the brothers continued to work for the family as chief engineers until 1948, Wilbur Shaw kept the fierce competition of Mercedes at bay on the track winning the great Indianapolis 500 on |May 30th 1939 and again in 1940.

The 1950's and stiff competition from Alfa Romeo and Ferrari ensued, with the introduction of chief engineer Gioacchino Colombo 1n 1953 he worked with the AC GCM and with drivers such as Fangio, Bonetto, Gonzalez and Graffenrad all wanting to race Maserati. It was long before the Italian Grand Prix and other victories were added to the long list of racing success?s for Maserati. Most memorable being Fangio bringing home victory in 1954 Argentinean Grand Prix in the Maserati 250F designed by Alfieri and Colombo.

1957 and Maserati retires from racing, though still produces race cars for private teams and in 1958 series production became the company's main focus.  1962 sees the Sebring, followed by the Quattroporte and the 4 door saloon.  1968 and we see the Orsi family sell their shares to Citroen, production increases and we see the launch of the Bora at the Geneva motor show in 1971.  Disaster followed when in 1973 an oil crisis as a result of the Yom Kippur war left no option but for Citroen to declare that Maserati was in liquidation with help from the government to sustain jobs until Aug 8th1975 when Benelli purchased most of the Maserati shares and together headed up by De Tomaso a famous racing driver Maserati began to climb back up with the release of Kyalami and the Quattroporte III sales increased.

1993 saw Fiat Auto own Maserati until 1997 when Ferrari became the new owner and a new Era for Maserati.

1998 and the launch of the 3200 at the Paris Motor show, soon Maserati were producing in excess of 2,000 cars per year. The company went on to design the Spyder in 1999, followed by the coupe in 2002 in 2005 the company returned to Fiat.

Maserati today symbolises true Italian design, oozing elegance, luxury and great craftsmanship, it is has secured its place on the race circuits and its logo the Trident stands for prestige and history.